Full Circle with Michael Palin

Did You Know?

• The first episode was moved from BBC1 to BBC2 on its original broadcast date due to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• Basil Pao, the stills photographer on the team, produced a separate book of his photographs titled Full Circle – The Photographs.

Episodes

The series is made up of ten episodes, each running for 50 minutes. Unlike Palin’s first two travel series, these episodes lack individual titles and are simply labeled "Episode One," "Episode Two," and so on. Palin starts his journey around the Pacific Rim on Little Diomede Island in Alaska, with the goal of making it back there one year later. After landing in Nome, he stops by a gold panner working the "Golden Sands of Nome." He then heads to Kodiak Island, but fog forces him to stay a couple of extra days, causing him to miss a planned US Coast Guard flight to the far western island of Attu. He does, however, spot a Kodiak brown bear. To find a way forward, Palin and his crew book the last Alaska Airlines flight of the year from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk in Russia. On the Kamchatka Peninsula, he meets his guide Igor Nosov and his assistants, takes a helicopter ride, and sees the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, home to active volcanoes and reindeer. Continuing to Magadan, he visits an old Gulag camp alongside a survivor. In Vladivostok, he views the once-mighty Pacific Fleet and gets to sing "Polyushko-polye" with the Pacific Fleet Ensemble. In Japan, Palin first goes to Sado Island, where he meets the Kodō drummers. He joins a morning run with aspiring drummers and tries his hand at the largest drum. In Tokyo, he connects with Mayumi Nobetsu, a Japanese Monty Python fan. They explore the Asakusa district, place a bet on a horse race, and win with a horse called Super License. They also dine at a restaurant that serves loaches fed on sake, then attend a punk rock concert in Yoyogi Park. Taking the shinkansen to Fukuyama, he participates in a Zen Buddhist meditation session at Buttsuji Temple, where he gets struck by a keisaku to keep him alert. In Nagasaki, he visits Huis ten Bosch, a Dutch-themed park meant to recall historical trade links with the Netherlands.